In today’s financial climate anything that can save you money has to be worth considering. So NMTBP has put together a Magnificent 7 of the best money saving apps in the UK. These include a range of open banking savings apps that round up and save your spare change and payment cards that enable you to save money through fair exchange rates, free ATM withdrawals and more
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All the apps listed here are regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and available on Android and iOS

How Do Money Saving Apps Work?

Money saving apps offer a variety of features and perks that can help increase your savings and improve your spending habits overall. These will depend on the type of saving apps you wish to use. Automatic savings apps help you save spare change by regularly moving small amounts of money into a separate savings account or rounding up your purchases and automatically saving the difference, whilst payment cards offer a number of benefits, including fair FX rates, fee-free foreign ATM withdrawals and more

Most money saving apps will require you to link to your bank account so that you can easily access your funds when setting saving goals, putting money aside or making payments and withdrawals abroad

Our Magnificent 7

Chip

The innovative Chip app helps you save money by analysing how much money you have in your bank accounts, calculating any spare change and automatically putting it in your savings account. You can adjust the automatic savings level to match your goals before it moves the money or even chooses to skip saving money that time

This app is free but also offers a paid option for £2.99 per month. If you upgrade to the paid version of the app, you can gain access to more exclusive features, including access to their full range of investment accounts and their up-to-date investment opportunities

Monzo

The Monzo app is the counterpart to Monzo’s bank. This app is completely free, but you can upgrade to Plus or Premium accounts. It helps you towards your goals by giving you options of providers that are offering the best interest rates between 0% to 2.10% AER

You can set savings goals, and it also rounds up your spare change and puts it in a savings pot. They offer various ISAs and savings accounts for long-term savings accounts

Currensea

Currensea s a highly-regarded money saving app in the UK, offering a personal account to help you save on foreign currency transactions while travelling. With the Currensea travel debit card, you can enjoy better exchange rates than your bank, supermarket, Post Office, and other travel cards or prepaid travel debit cards. The app is designed to save users over £290 on a 14-day holiday in the USA, making it a strong contender for the best savings app in the UK

Opening and managing your Currensea personal account is easy, with a range of simple and transparent pricing plans to suit your needs. The Essential plan, available for £0/year, saves 85% on bank charges with a competitive 0.5% FX rate, fee-free ATM withdrawals abroad, and market-beating money transfer options. Premium (£25/year) and Elite (£120/year) plans offer additional benefits, such as 0% FX rates, car hire discounts, and exclusive travel perks. With its user-friendly interface, impressive savings on foreign currency transactions, and a wide range of benefits, Currensea stands out as one of the best money saving apps in the UK for frequent travellers seeking financial efficiency and convenience

Starling Bank

Starling Bank’s  current account is anything but average. You can do everything you used to do in a branch, from opening and managing your account to locking your card if it goes missing, all on your phone. The account offers instant payment notifications and smart tools to help with budgeting and saving, with round-up transactions to help you save effortlessly. You can put money aside in virtual change jars, set up additional accounts for free, and access fixed-rate savings accounts with competitive interest rates

With Starling Bank’s current account, you can also withdraw cash from ATMs, deposit cheques by simply scanning them with your phone camera, and withdraw cash from any one of the Post Office’s 11,500 branches. The account earns 0.05% AER on current account balances up to £85,000 and has no fees for overseas transactions or ATM use. The Starling Bank current account also offers a new way to pay, settle up IOUs with a simple payment link, send money to nearby Starling customers, or split bills with a tap. With 24/7 support, a UK-based customer service team, and competitive rates, Starling Bank is one of the best money saving apps in the UK for anyone seeking financial control and success

Moneybox

The free Moneybox app offers a 1.5% AER interest rate as well as automatic investments with a range of accounts; Stocks and Shares ISAs, Personal Pensions, Junior ISAs and Lifetime ISAs. They accept digital transfers from most major banks as well. They also offer a round-ups feature, which you can turn off at any time, that saves your spare change by rounding up your transactions to the nearest pound

You’ree given the option of saving your money in a Simple Saver account, which you can withdraw from once a month, a 45-Day Notice Account, or a 95-Day Notice Account. Another selling point is that you can open a savings or investment account with as little as £1!

Cleo

Intelligence is what sets Cleo apart from other money saving apps. By using insights based on your regular expenses, you can see exactly how much you’re paying – and decide where to make the most important changes

This app also lets you set up notifications, so you’ll always know when you’re approaching your financial limits. Plus, the Cleo AI interface is full of tough love if you need a little extra motivation – we particularly enjoy ‘roast mode’ for telling you where you’re going wrong with your spending

Raisin UK

Raisin UK is all about effortless saving. It’s free, easy-to-use and connects you with a wide range of banks offering deposit-protected savings accounts, as well as highly competitive interest rates

You can apply to open as many Raisin savings accounts as you like and manage everything from the app, at no added expense

And the best part? Raisin UK doesn’t just offer savings accounts with British banks; it also promotes international partners. This could be very handy if you plan on buying SIM cards for overseas travel and would prefer using a foreign bank to pay

Are money-saving apps safe?

All the money-saving apps in this list are safe to use! They all have Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) protection up to £85,000. This means that you can get your money back up to that amount should the app go under

Some of these apps will also have an electronic money license which means that they keep all the client’s money in a bank account ring-fenced from their own accounts

They are all regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), so they’re being watched for any dodgy business practices, and they use encryption technology to keep your personal information safe

Happy saving!